Hate heating your kitchen to make meals when it’s hot outside? Check out these great no oven dinner ideas perfect for summer!
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When we remodeled our kitchen, I decided to switch from an electric stove to a gas one and while I like it, for the most part, I have to admit, that baby kicks off a lot of heat when I’m using the oven!
So much in fact, that when we first moved in and didn’t have any heat in the kitchen yet, I would sometimes stand with my hands over the oven vent and warm them up!
You might remember that I’m a wimp when it comes to hot weather. And while that excess oven heat was fine and even kind of nice this winter, I haven’t exactly been thrilled at the thought of dealing with it this summer!
So I’ve been trying to think of some great no oven dinner ideas to help me stay cool and yet still eat well!
And since I assume many of you don’t really enjoy the heat either, I thought I’d share some of the delicious recipes for no oven dinner ideas that I had with you all too!
The great thing is, many of these recipes are more economical as well since they use a skillet, stove top burner, Crockpot, Instant Pot (my new favorite way to cook!) or grill to prepare them.
So not only will you be keeping the temperature down in your house as you make your summer meals, but you’ll also most likely use less energy to make those meals too.
And of course, we all know that translates into more money in your wallet and less money paid to the power company! How’s that for an added benefit? 🙂
45+ No Oven Dinner Ideas
CROCKPOT RECIPES
- Creamy Crockpot Mexican Chicken
- Slow Cooker Black Bean Enchiladas
- Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
- Crockpot Lasagna
- Crockpot Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Angel Pork Chops
- Slow Cooker Buttery Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes
- Slow Cooked Meatloaf
- Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast
- Crockpot Tamale Pie
INSTANT POT RECIPES
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Instant Pot Hamburger Stroganoff
- Ham, Egg and Cheese Casserole (can also do in crockpot!)
- Smothered Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy
- Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage
STOVE TOP | SKILLET RECIPES
- Creamy Sausage and Potatoes
- Speedy Spanish Rice and Ground Beef Skillet
- Easy Ground Beef and Rice Skillet
- One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
- Super Easy Beef and Macaroni Skillet
- Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas
- Salsa Ranch Chicken Wraps
- Porcupines in a Skillet
- Creamy Tuscan Pasta Sauce
- White Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
GRILLING RECIPES
- Grilled Greek Chicken Kebabs with Simple Tzatziki Sauce
- Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs
- Chicken Parmesan Burgers
- Grilled Pizza
- Lime Marinated Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Hawaiian Pork Chops
SALADS | SANDWICHES | WRAPS RECIPES
- Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps
- Classic Chicken Salad
- Chicken Pesto Caesar Salad
- Chicken Enchilada Pinwheels
- Copycat Applebees Oriental Salad
- Chinese Chicken Salad
- Easy Crunchy Quinoa Cabbage Salad
- Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini
- 10 Minute BBQ Ham Sandwiches
- Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad
- Chickpea, Avocado & Feta Salad
- Frozen Fruit Salad Slush
- 5 Minute Mandarin Orange Jello Salad
DESSERT RECIPES
- Instant Pot Banana Bread
- No Bake Banana Split Dessert
- No Bake Chocolate Cheesecake
- No Bake Strawberry Ice Box Cake
- Slow Cooker Berry Cobbler
- Gooey Slow Cooker Caramel Blondies
- Instant Pot Key Lime Pie
- Snickers Ice Cream Cake
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Sakshi
Amazing!!!
I particularly love the dessert collection. I’ll surely try some of these recipes. Thanks for sharing these amazing recipes. 🙂
ThriftyFrugalMom
Desserts? Oh yes. My favorite too. 🙂
Angela
I love these ideas. I’m definitely trying these this summer. I’m a wimp too when it comes to summer.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Thanks, Angela! And glad to know I’m at least in good company when it comes to wimping out in the summer heat. 🙂
Erica Vandegrift
One small appliance I recommend if you hate having to use the oven is a pizza maker. You can find them on Amazon, although I bought my first one at Walmart. It looks like a large waffle maker, but the inside is flat. They heat up very quickly but do not heat the house up. You can cook not only pizza on it, but basically anything that fits lol. I have made everything from chicken nuggets, french fries, frozen meatballs, and Texas toast to using just the bottom surface to fry eggs, cheeseburgers, and my husband has used it to make bacon. I don’t know how we survived without it! There are so many foods that taste so much better in the oven than they do from a microwave but using the oven not only heats up the house, but it takes a lot longer for the oven to heat up than for the pizza maker to heat. I highly recommend it!
ThriftyFrugalMom
Thanks for that tip, Erica! I never have heard of a pizza maker before and am intrigued. I love how you figured out unconventional ways to use it too. I’ll have to check it out!
Sean
I love the fact that these don’t “heat the kitchen”. My air conditioner already costs enough during the summer with the kids home all day!
Great meal ideas.
ThriftyFrugalMom
I know, right? We always hate seeing how high our electric bill jumps in the summer!